3000 Level Courses

How major anthropological thinkers seek to explain the variety and complexity of human ritual and symbolic behaviors informs this course. Ethnographic examples and materials on ritual events, religious symbolism, and belief systems will enrich this anthropological perspective. A series of topics will be investigated including shamans, sorcery and witchcraft, specific examples of Asian and European religions and New Age religious movements. After a review of various ways to approach the study of religion within Anthropology with a focus on symbolic theory, the course will concentrate on a number of topics. Some of the areas of interest investigated and developed for extensive discussion include myth, ritual, shamans, sorcery and witchcraft, and religious systems of the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. Students will be encouraged to discuss topics including issues surrounding purity and pollution, gender and religion, religious festivals and performances, and major life concerns like the problem of evil and suffering. Students will be exposed to the anthropological approach to the study of religion through discussions of theories in anthropology and a variety of ethnographic examples. This course will provide the students with grounding in the anthropological approach to the study of religion and expand their knowledge of anthropological techniques and perspectives.

This course examines debates amongst anthropologists about the study of Islam and Muslim societies, and Muslim expressions of Islam according to anthropological themes including the body, space, ritual, knowledge, agency and representation. Students design and undertake a field-based research project.
Course credit exclusion: AP/ANTH 4180 6.00 (prior to Fall 2013).

This course builds on the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills developed in AP/ARB 2000 6.0. Students study passages from different disciplines, present short dialogues, and lead prepared discussions on different topics. This course helps students develop translation skills.

PREREQUISITE: AP/ARB 2000 6.0 or equivalent or permission of department.

Examines visual culture throughout modern Asia, building a framework for understanding artistic and cultural activities in the 20th century in their historical and social context. Explores visual and built environments including art works, exhibitions, literature, popular culture and events.

Examines visual culture at different localities of modern Asia that builds a framework for understanding artistic and cultural activities in the 20th century in their historical and social context. As modern Asia is not a unified but dynamic space, we will explore various kinds of visual and built environments including art works, exhibitions, literature, popular culture and events. Visual representations are analyzed as crucial in the formation of the norms of history, culture and politics of the region. Discussion focuses on the binary conception of "the East" versus "the West", and notions of "Asia," "tradition," "modernity," and nationalism in particular postcolonial conditions of East Asia. Questions such as what is "Asia"? How do we define the notion of "modernity" in Asia? These and other questions seek to construct and deconstruct fundamental assumptions on "modern Asian art," examining contemporary theories of art, culture, and nation. Students develop visual and analytic skills needed to read Asian modern art and culture in relation to growing tension and interaction between national, regional and global flows.

This course entails reading, writing, discussion, use of dictionaries and translation practice. The student should, with the aid of dictionaries, be able to read and translate newspaper articles from the People's Republic, modern fiction and non-specialist articles.

Investigates Celtic culture and its artistic expression, which includes both the early medieval amalgamation of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon traditions in the British Isles, and its later manifestation during the Celtic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Explores the intersection of religion and superstition from ancient times to the present. Analyzes issues of gender, power and sexuality through the study of goddesses, witches and the current fascination with vampires in popular culture.

The Bible offers archetypal figures for Western art, music and film as well as literature. This course will analyze women in the Hebrew Bible in English (Old Testament) with a focus on sexuality, seduction, murder and mayhem. Note: AP/GWST 3560 3.00 may be taken independently of AP/GWST 3561 3.00.

The Bible offers archetypal figures for Western art, music and film as well as literature. This course will analyze women in the New Testament with a focus on sexuality, seduction, murder and mayhem. Note: AP/GWST 3561 3.00 may be taken independently of AP/GWST 3560 3.00.

In this course students further develop their ability to read, write, speak and comprehend Modern Hebrew. Various aspects of Hebrew grammar will be reviewed. Emphasis is on vocabulary enrichment, and comprehension of Modern Hebrew texts through intensive reading, writing and discussions. Computer Programs will be used for additional practice and review of vocabulary and grammar taught in class. This course is recommended for those who wish to do advanced work in Hebrew or to study in Israel. Classes will be conducted in Hebrew.

PREREQUISITE: AS/ HEB 2000 6.0 or AP/HEB 2000 6.0 (formerly AS/HEB 2010 6.0 or AP/HEB 2010 6.0), or equivalent. Not open to students who have completed Grade 10 in Hebrew or above, or the equivalent, or to native speakers. Placement questionnaire required.

This course provides an overview of the beginnings and development of Jewish law. Starting with Biblical materials, we progress through the centuries to the modern world. Attention is paid to process development and the impact of historical/sociological settings on the Jewish legal framework.

This course addresses both the geography of the classical Jewish Hebrew prayer text, the Siddur, as well as the overall structure of the text. It focuses also on selected prayers and their internal structures, histories and meanings.

This course focuses on Jewish holidays and the weekly Sabbath. Ancient text is studied along with modern philosophical and thematic materials. This course traces the development of some traditions from ancient text through modern practice.

A close textual analysis of the book of Deuteronomy and of interpretations of the book written in Hebrew throughout the ages. The language of instruction and readings are in Hebrew. This course is designed for the student who can work comfortably with Hebrew texts, but it does not assume a prior acquaintance with Biblical literature or with classical modes of Biblical exegesis. The course consists primarily of readings and analysis of sources. It attempts to acquaint the student with the style of both legal and narrative passages of Biblical literature, and with the ways in which this literature was understood and reworked by later generations of Jewish exegetes.

This course is intended to introduce students to a fascinating, multifaceted profile of Israeli cultural life. Mainly through readings in Modern Hebrew literature, as well as Israeli music, visual drawings and films we will reflect on the development of Israeli society from the days of Independence to present day occurrences. While we will be able to follow a historical timeline, our approach is thematic. Through the prism of literature, music and film we will reflect on normal issues of right and wrong, "the other" in Israeli society, war and peace, despair and hope, horror and tragedy as well as joy and wonderful humour.

What is "Jewish" and "modern" about modern Jewish women's literature, and how does it reflect the experiences and perceptions of women? Examining a variety of literary genres, the course compares Israeli women's literature in translation with contemporary writing by other Jewish women.

Modern Hebrew writers faced the challenge of reinventing a language and culture during a century of upheaval and change. Examining fiction, poetry, memoirs and film (in translation), this course addresses such issues as personal and collective identities and relationships with the past.

investigations include the neolithic revolution; the Sumerian problem; pre-Sargonic Sumer; the Sargonic and Ur III Empires; the collapse of Sumer ecological, economic and ethnic factors; old Babylonia and the new order; the Amarna Age; and the Iron Age.

Investigations include methodological limitations; Old Testament, archaeology and ideology; Israel's origins; the settlement in Canaan; Philistia and the Israelite state; the Davidic Revolutions; the twin kingdoms; Assyria, Babylonia and the end of the Israelite people.

This course explores the social and political history of Muslims in post-war Europe. It emphasizes key debates and controversies, including how Muslim immigrants have focused attention on questions of citizenship and belonging, the division between secular and religious life, freedom of expression, and women’s rights.

A study of the origins, growth and development of the Canadian Jewish Community since the 1750's. Themes to be dealt with include immigration, Western Settlement, the Holocaust, religion, anti-Semitism, Zionism, labour, integration and continuity.

This course begins with an examination of the Jewish society into which Jesus was born. It then explores the New Testament in its historical context. It continues with the spread of Christianity, the martyrdoms, the teachings of the early church fathers, the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the rise of the Byzantine empire. It concludes with the challenge posed by Islam in the seventh century.

This course examines the history of Islamic civilization from its beginnings in seventh century Arabia until the Fall of Baghdad to the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century. Attention is given to the structure of political institutions, the changing nature of the caliphate, as well as social trends and important cultural developments.

This course introduces students to the history of Christianity in the ancient, medieval, and early modern world, from the life of Jesus to the end of the Reformation era. Students can expect a mixture of lecture and discussion in each class, with numerous images to ponder and the occasional film or video as well. Texts and textual analysis are central to the Christian religion, and careful reading will be a crucial activity in this class as well. We will read some of the works of the best historians working in this field today as well as texts written by premodern Christians themselves. Four "special feature" lectures spaced throughout the course will introduce students to key moments in the use and development of Christian books and imagery: the invention of the codex, early medieval Bible illumination, the Book of Hours, and print propaganda in the Reformation. Students should expect to leave the course with better understanding of the major ideas, key figures, and rich complexity of the history of Christianity in its first seventeen centuries.

This course explores the history of the Christian Church from the Reformation to the present, including the organizations and associations developed by the Christian community, and the precepts by which the churches have governed their members and justified their own validity since the Reformation.

This course surveys the Jews from the breakdown of traditional society in the 18th century until the present. The focus will be on the Jews of Europe and the major offshoots of Jewish Europe, Israel and North America. The course will highlight significant historical themes in the political, social, religious and intellectual history of the Jewish people.

COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: Prior to Fall 2009: AS/HIST 3860 6.0.

EVALUATION: Analysis & discussion of a document in its historical context 15%, Mid-term examination 25%, 10-12 page research paper on topic approved by the instructor, due at the end of second semester 20%, Final examination 30%, Attendance and participation 10%.

This course examines Greek and Roman religious beliefs and practices from an interdisciplinary perspective. Special attention is given to four major approaches to the divine (ritual, myth, art and philosophy) and their integration with other aspects of society and culture.

Explores the representation of terrorism and terror in a range of forms, disciplines and historical contexts, complicating the simplistic binary of good and evil characterizing terrorism that functions in dominant political and media discourse.

Analyzes texts excluded from the New Testament, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Infancy Gospel of James, and the Apocalypse of Peter. Discusses what these texts truly say about Jesus and why they are important for the study of Early Christianity.

Traces the development, transmission, and translation of the Bible from early attempts to develop the canon to the construction of current English Bibles. Discusses figures that have helped shape the text, important translations, manuscript illuminations, and text-critical methodology.

The Dead Sea Scrolls provide an intriguing window into the development of early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. This course examines the texts, the communities which produced them, contemporary movements within Judaism and Christianity, and the major lines of interpretive controversy.

A study of the life and seminal ideas of Augustine of Hippo. Setting his ideas in the context of his life story, the course explores his teaching on such themes as religion, education, philosophy, grade and free will, sexuality and politics.

Examines the remarkable cultural achievements of the Irish, how they kept the lamps of learning, literature and material culture (manuscript, painting, ornamental metalwork) burning following the barbarian invasions of the fifth century and the decline of Roman civilization on the continent.

A study of the intellectual, spiritual and artistic life of the Middle Ages. Areas of study include courtliness and chivalry, warfare, education, forms of spirituality, authority and dissent, the relation of faith and reason.

Examines the early, radical alternative version of Christianity and Judaism based on mystical self-knowledge (gnosis), and the challenge it posed to orthodox views on such issues as authority, the role of women, wisdom and organizational structure.

This course critically examines selected contemporary religious issues such as the challenge of feminism, nature of biblical authority, rise of fundamentalism, 20th-century discoveries of other ancient texts, clash of world religions, nature religions and liberation theology.

This course examines Africa's contribution to world religions focusing on Traditional African Religions and the impact and transformation of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Africa. The course makes special reference to oral and written texts and their interpretation. The course will use scriptural, hagiographical, exegetical and oral sources to explore concepts of healing, worship, holiness and sacred space in the realm of religions in Africa. Students will be engaged with primary sources in translation including the Bible, the Holy Qur'an, the Andemta Commentaries as well as the Ethiopian-Coptic Synxarion and Gadlat. The course will also be informed by the scholarly works of Benjamin, Idowu, and Mbiti, amongst others, on Traditional African Religions.

Examines and analyzes the critical social, legal, economic, political and philosophical issues related to Islam and Islamic societies; discusses their relevance to current developments in Muslim countries.

This course provides an historical and comparative analysis of the relations between feminism and religion. It explores how religion has strengthened the feminist critique of the oppression of women and other marginalized groups, and how feminists have questioned theological conceptions of the social and spiritual place of women and other marginalized groups.

Women have been creating their own significant rituals both inside and outside established religious movements for centuries. This course explores this phenomenon and analyzes a variety of contemporary women's rituals in light of contemporary feminist ritual theory and methodology. Previously offered as: AP/WMST 3519 6.00.

This course investigates the origins, development, significance, and social functions of personified evil--Satan and his demons--in early Judaism and in the history of Christianity. We will consider some of the most important literary and visual depictions of this figure (and his story) from the ancient world through the middle ages to our own day.
Course credit exclusions: None.

This course introduces Sikhism by exploring its main historical developments and religio-philosophical teachings. To understand these historical and religious discourses within their broader social settings a number of themes and contexts are explored: scripture, interpretation, gender, colonialism and the Diaspora.

Explores the key approaches to the study of religion through an examination of various methodologies. Working through well-known case studies, students investigate a variety of approaches in practice to explore how questions of method shape our broader understanding of religious traditions.

Introduces students to the foundational theorists and key questions in the history of the academic study of religion. This course examines the lenses through which we view religion, that is, how differing theoretical models shape our understanding of religion as a human phenomenon. Starting with Marx, Durkheim and Weber, the course explores a variety of theoretical models and contemporary debates.

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is one of the foundational texts of western culture. As such, it has had a history of interpretation and reinterpretation that has lasted for some 2000 years. During this period of time certain – oftentimes mutually contradictory – assumptions about what the text means have become entrenched among the various groups that look to this text as holy scripture and inspirational literature.

Indeed, even among those who reject the supposed theological underpinnings of this text, rigid assumptions about what it means or says are common. The major aim of this course is to strip away the layers of interpretation that have been imposed on the text over the millennia, in order to enable the students to approach the text using critical and methodological tools that allow modern readers (1) to attempt to read the Hebrew Bible within the context of its own time and world, and (2) to be aware of the subject nature of their preconceptions. Openness to new ways of understanding and a critical mindset are the only prerequisites necessary.

This course examines the representation and the construction of the gendered roles of “Muslim Woman” and “Muslim Man” in different Islamic societies. Interdisciplinary in approach, the course exposes the students to a variety of Muslim and non-Muslim sources, including works of historiography, jurisprudence and literature which provide a fertile ground for the analysis of the construction of the roles of Male and Female in different Muslim societies. During a critical examination of the source material, the students are asked to discuss the notion of alterity and its relevance for the development of the current myths about “Muslim woman and “Muslim man.” Moreover, students become familiar with the ideas of “male epistemology” and its relevance for the interpretation of the position of the Muslim woman and Muslim men in Islamic legal discourses.

This course introduces students to some of the major aspects of classical Islamic thought focusing on their development, diversity, and influences. The course explores the writings of leading figures in Islamic theology, jurisprudence, mysticism and philosophy in the pre-modern period. The course uses Abdullah Saeed's Islamic Thought. An Introduction as a general textbook along with additional articles that will be posted on the moodle site. Students will have weekly readings and discussions that will be part of the general assessment. The course assignments include two exams, an essay, and a review.

This course explores the intersections between religion, culture and identity in the Balkans. It offers an interdisciplinary examination of this complex religious and ethnic mosaic through a wide range of sources, including consideration of the image of the Balkans in Europe and beyond.

The course examines the plurality of rituals and devotional practices in Islam and the variety of spaces and places engendered by Muslim worship and devotion from early Islam to the contemporary period. It examines the diversity of forms of Muslim worship and devotional practices such as prayer, pilgrimage, tomb visitations, as well as individual contemplation and remembrance practices. It examines places such as mosques, sufi lodges, tombs, mausoleums, homes and landscapes. Course readings will be posted on the moodle site. Students will have weekly readings and discussions that will be part of the general assessment. The course assignments include an exam, an essay, and a review.

Religion plays an important role in inculcating and perpetuating societal norms and values. However, that is only part of the story. Many members of marginalized groups have also found within religion a space in which to resist and to manoeuvre within those same norms and values. For religion is not just the site of patriarchal domination; at the same time that its symbols, rituals, practices, and beliefs serve to shape the worldview of those participating in them, those participants are also re-interpreting and re-configuring those symbols, rituals, practices and beliefs. Members of marginalized groups have always taken advantage of that dynamic, revising, transforming, and challenging the religious rituals, practices, symbols and beliefs inculcating and perpetuating patriarchal norms and values. This course examines the strategies employed by members of marginalized groups over the past several decades to resist and to manoeuvre within patriarchal stereotypes, norms and values from within their religious traditions.

The strategies explored will include those employed by feminists, racialized groups, members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer communities (LGBTQ), members of post-colonial nations, and persons with disabilities.

A comparative study of religion focusing on the interrelated traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and modern Goddess spirituality. Particular attention will be paid to the roles of women within the history of these traditions, and modern feminist critiques, revisions and reconstructions of these traditions, both in theory and in practice.

This course examines how the Holocaust is represented and taught in Canada, Germany and Poland in the context of racism and multiculturalism in these three countries. It combines aspects of cultural studies, history, religious studies and literary studies. Note: This course is open only to those students enrolled in the Concurrent Education Program. Note: This course involves participation in a three-week field study program in Germany and Poland from late July until mid-August. As well, this course involves participation in a symposium in February. Admission to the course is by permission of the instructors.

This course examines the role and representation of the religious in popular film. It identifies and analyzes ways in which contemporary cinema reflects, shapes and embodies our world-views, values and commitments, both as individuals and as a society.

This course examines the evolution of anti-Jewish thought and behaviour as a response to the crisis of modernity. It examines the role of antisemitism in 19th- and 20th-century European ideological, political and socio-economic developments and the Jewish responses to antisemitism.

This course offers a historical exploration of Jewish beliefs, institutions, and bodies of literature, emphasizing continuities and changes in religious expression within and across different places, circumstances, and times. The course takes up five broadly defined periods: biblical, Second Temple, rabbinic, medieval, and modern. Its integrating perspective is an exploration of Jewish religious expressions in their continuities and diversities within and across these different periods, with special attention paid to evolving (or revolutionary) conceptions or interpretations of Judaism's foundation document, the Torah, as a result or reflection of immanent developments within Jewish life or in consequence of Jewish dialogues and disputations with a variety of "external" (that is, non-Jewish) stimuli, or some combination of these. A sub-section of the course explores Judaism's cycles of sacred days and the liturgies and ritual observances associated with them. Topics covered include Israelite religion and biblical texts (including the "First Temple" period); Judaism in Persian and Greco-Roman times (the "Second-Temple" period); the emergence of rabbinic Judaism and its classical texts, with emphasis on Judaism's second "foundation document" (after the Bible), the Babylonian Talmud; varieties of Jewish literature and piety in medieval times; modern religious cross-currents (Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist), and contemporary issues and challenges (e.g., post-Holocaust theology, feminism). Themes covered include God, the Jewish people, Torah and its interpretation, the land of Israel; the commandments (mitzvot) and their halakhic (legal) expressions; the Sabbath; daily and calendrical cycles of holiness; rites of passage, and messianic teachings.

This course will present a broad exposure to the history, thought, literature, and main institutions of Rabbinic Judaism from its inception, during the Second Temple period, through contemporary times. We will explore a variety of classical texts and genres in light of their religious and historical settings. We will consider institutions that have shaped Rabbinic Judaism in its varied manifestations throughout the ages down to the present. Finally, we will study various Jewish philosophies with foundations in Rabbinic Judaism from 10thc. Through the Middle Ages to modern thought (21st c).

This seminar examines the transformation of Yiddish from the vernacular of an ethno-religious community to a language of modern, secular mass culture and national politics in the 19th and 20th centuries in Eastern Europe.

What is "Jewish" and what is "modern" about "Modern Jewish Literature"? Examining fiction, poetry, memoirs, and film, the course addresses such issues as post-immigrant experiences; identity; exile and home; gender; anti-Semitism; stereotypes; boundaries and margins.

The attempt of the Nazis to annihilate world Jewry was in many ways unprecedented in human annals. It was a turning-point in history, the way for which was prepared by revolutionary political, social, technological, and philosophical developments. In other ways, however, it was a not unpredictable outgrowth of the past. Although analysis may be difficult and painful, especially for survivors, the Holocaust must be analyzed and understood if those who live on are to learn from it. Such analysis involves the examination of different aspects of life, using the tools of the historian, the theologian, the literary critic, and, to a lesser extent, the social scientist.

The course is divided into several sections, each of which approaches a different aspect of the Holocaust: the historical and philosophical background, the psychological and historical reality, and the religious questions that arise in its aftermath.

COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: Prior to Fall 2009 : AS/HUMA 3850 6.0.

EVALUATION: A book review (5-7 pp. 15%) will be required in the first term, and a longer research paper (10-15 pp. 30%) in the second term. There will be an examination in the first term (15%) and a final examination (25%). The remainder of the grade (15%) will be based on class presentations and participation. (subject to change)

TEXTS: (subject to change) Readings may include: William S. Allen, The Nazi Seizure of Power; Aharon Appelfeld, Badenheim. 1939; Yehuda Bauer, A History of the Holocaust; Moshe Flinker, Young Moshe's Diary; Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning; A.M. Klein, The Second Scroll; Emanuel Ringelblum, Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto; Andre Schwarzbart, The Last of the Just; Fred Uhlman, Reunion; Adele Wiseman, The Sacrifice.

This course explores responses to the Holocaust in imaginative texts - fiction, poetry and film - alongside autobiographical, historical and philosophical accounts. Works by survivors and others enable us to examine forms of Holocaust memory, and their concomitant implications.

although the Nazi genocide targeted both men and women, writing by victims and survivors along with contemporary depictions of the Holocaust, indicates significant gender-specific differences in experience and ways of coping and remembering. Close readings and critical analyses of primary texts are emphasized.

This course reads texts from the Classical to the Early Modern Periods that present the quest for union with the divine in the framework of the theory of metaphor in Lakoff and Johnson's Metaphors We Live By.

Examination of the relationship between science and religion through a study of the implications of the following intellectual developments for religious thought: the rise and triumph of Newtonian science, the Darwinian revolution, relativity theory, quantum physics, "big bang" theory, and creationism.

The course focuses on continuous texts; edited texts on various topics are read, summarized, translated and discussed with emphasis on discourse grammar. All Kanji (Sino-Japanese characters) in Education Characters (881) will be covered.

This course examines not only how Japanese religious/philosophical traditions were utilized for practical concerns by Japanese immigrants, but also how they came to inform the identity of Japanese Canadians in the context of a broader understanding of the role religion has played in the East.

Although religious identity did not loom strongly in the minds of most Japanese immigrants to Canada in the late nineteenth century, it often became a major connection to their cultural identity, language, and the social norms of their homeland. However, Japanese Canadians came to adapt their Buddhist prac although the Nazi genocide targeted both men and women, writing by victims and survivors along with contemporary depictions of the Holocaust, indicates significant gender-specific differences in experience and ways of coping and remembering. Close readings and critical analyses of primary texts are emphasized.

tices, or convert to Christianity, as concessions to a society in which Eastern traditions were often seen as not only foreign but perhaps also dangerous. These concessions have often been problematic for those studying the immigrant experience. However, there is a fundamental difference between the East and West in the understanding of the word "religion." There was no equivalent for this word in either Chinese or Japanese until the 19th century and Asian religions have often been characterized by Western scholars as traditions of praxis in contrast to the Abrahamic traditions which prioritize belief. Thus any study of "religious" traditions in the Asian diaspora is problematized by preconceptions of what "religion" means.

By utilizing various religious and sociological theoretical and methodological approaches this course problematizes conventional understandings of philosophical/religious traditions by investigating the role religion has played in East Asia. Although Japanese immigrants may not have been characterized as "religious," imbedded religious and philosophical traditions nevertheless had a profound effect on their world view, and thus their behaviour. Accordingly, this course leads to a more nuanced and complete understanding of the Asian diaspora, as well as a deeper understanding of how its members viewed themselves and the decisions they made

Offers a cross-cultural survey of the role of music in mythology and ritual focusing on exoteric form and esoteric meaning. Explores archtypes (e.g. deities, birds, angels, shamans, bards), mythologies, liturgies, and artistic traditions from the perspectives of history, social context, symbolism and spirituality. Relationships between traditions, relevance to contemporary culture, and the significance of music fulfilling essential, non-material human needs are examined.

Prerequisites or co-requisites: FA/MUSI 2201/2202 and 2200. Open to non-majors/minors by permission.Prerequisites or co-requisites: FA/MUSI 2201/2202 and 2200. Open to non-majors/minors by permission.

The course concentrates on the most important and famous contemporary existentialist, Martin Heidegger. It studies his main work, Being and Time, a book that most continental philosophers would agree is the most significant work of the Twentieth Century. Since this book is basic for contemporary existentialism, the course is able to refer to its impact on such thinkers as Sartre and MerleauPonty, its existentialist precursors such as Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, and its close relatives like the postmodernists. Nonetheless, the main purpose of the course is to do a 'systematic' treatment rather than 'historical' study of the key concepts in order to show their relevance to current issues in philosophy. Frequent reference will be made to Husserl as well, the founder of the phenomenological method, because Being and Time is a model of phenomenological analysis, especially of what is called hermeneutic or existentialist phenomenology, and we shall follow its style of thinking and writing in order to begin to learn to apply this method in the assignments and class discussions.

An introduction to basic notions of the philosophy of language. Questions to be discussed may include: How is communication in language possible? What is a language? What makes words and phrases meaningful? What is truth?

Among the topics considered are theories of bureaucratic organizations, the relationship between formal and informal structures, official-client relationships, the effects of organizations upon their members and the relationship of organizations to one another and to the community.

This course uses sociological theories on religion to study the main issues, gains and struggles faced by women in religious traditions around the world. Students study women in religion at the macro and micro levels of spirituality and femininity.

This course develops an understanding of contemporary North American Jewry using findings of Social Science. Social, cultural, political and religious issues concerning the Jewish community are analyzed, such as assimilation, intermarriage, ethnic identity, Jewish education, anti-Semitism, etc.

Drawing from several fields of study, this course focuses on the Jews of Muslim lands and on the social mechanisms they devised in order to maintain their identity despite an often hostile environment and very harsh living conditions.